A Thousand Forests
by Twin-Lupus
Summary: Pacifica absolutely does not have a crush on Dipper Pines. She absolutely does not want to go on crazy adventures in the Oregon woods with him. She absolutely does not want to spend time with him during her last summer vacation before going to college. And she absolutely does not want to make out with him every opportunity she can get.


**"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." - John Muir**

* * *

 _:0 they broke up~! :) D :P_

Pacifica bites her lip, staring at the small screen in her lap. Mabel's overuse of emoji isn't surprising, but which ones she's chosen to use in this text _are_. There are a lot more smiles in a text reporting the end of her brother's almost-year-long relationship.

Ten months and six days, but who's counting?

She flicks her eyes up to glance at the teacher in the front of the classroom, but he's still droning on without paying much attention to the students. It is late in the year, and most of the seniors have checked out, either sleeping at their desks or tapping away at their phones, but Pacifica had still been fastidiously taking notes.

But the vibration of her phone had piqued her curiosity, and she hadn't been able to resist. There are only a few numbers she had programmed to be allowed to bother her during the school day, and Mabel Pines' is one of them. Her brother's is another.

The chalk squeaks against the blackboard and she winces. There are too many dates now that are on the board that are not in her notebook, so she scribbles furiously for a few minutes before replying.

 _Why? Do you know what happened?_

 _they are going to diff colleges, it will be too hard, yadda yadda :0 but i think it was more that they just didn't like each other anymore i guess he needs to find someone new~ ;) XD_

She purses her lip, then quickly smoothes her face; too much emotion will give away that she's using her phone. Tapping the end of her pen against the paper, she debates how to respond.

Mabel is hinting _far_ too strongly at something Pacifica regrets telling her last summer in the throes of wallowing over Dipper dating Hailey. She can distinctly remember that _stupid, knowing smile_ spread across Mabel's face, and the thought of it causes her to scowl again.

 _Well, I hope he'll be OK._

 _oh i'm sure he will be ;) :0 !_

A flush spreads across her face as she jams the phone between her knees, as if doing so will get rid of the implication of Mabel's newest text. She stares blankly at the words she's written on her notebook, trying to decipher them.

Her phone vibrates again from between her knees and she almost drops it in surprise. Carefully grabbing it before it can vibrate again against the metal of the chair, Pacifica brings it closer to her lap and reads the new text, again from Mabel.

 _we'll see you in two weeks~_

* * *

Pacifica spends the rest of the day distracted, half the time devoted to thinking about Mabel's cryptic messages and the other half trying to convince herself to stop thinking about it. It's with a harried, "Hello, James," that she slides into the limousine waiting to take her home from school.

From the front, he moves the rearview mirror to look at her more carefully. "Are you all right, Miss Northwest?"

She smiles and glances up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just ready for the school year to end."

He chuckles. "Yeah, my kids as well."

Pacifica tries to pay attention - she does like hearing about his family - but her mind drifts back to her phone and the fact that Dipper would be here, in Gravity Falls, in less than two weeks, and _single_. It opens the door to too many possibilities, possibilities that tie her stomach up in knots and send her heart pounding through her ears. If Mabel is hinting at what she thinks Mabel is hinting at, she seems to approve of… _something_. Pacifica presses her forehead against the cool window, taking a deep, slow breath.

They pull into the driveway and the gates open to allow them access. She waves goodbye to the driver as she steps out and walks up to the front door.

The expansive mansion feels hollow. She can hear her mother's voice coming from the study; she's clearly on the phone about her next party. Pacifica moves towards the main staircase, treading lightly so as not to be heard.

It's Thursday, which means she needs to practice the piano. The room is smaller than most in the manor, but just as artfully decorated. The grand piano is gleaming; it must have just been polished for her. She lets her backpack slide to the floor and sits on the bench. With another deep breath, her fingertips meet ivory and she begins to play.

Starting with some scales, Pacifica wonders how she should reply to Mabel, if she should even reply at all. Part of her doesn't want to let Mabel know just how excited and nervous the news makes her, and part of her wants to demand to know everything. Part of her wants to find that stupid mind eraser gun and make Mabel forget anything she might or might not have said about how her heart fluttered when a certain dork entered the room.

 _It's just Dipper_ , she tries to remind herself, but it's not really working. It hasn't really ever worked. The way he looks as he pores over the journals, the way his eyes light up as he and Pacifica debate something they had learned in school, the way his hair gets tousled as he plays with his battered hat. His arms when he rolls up his sleeves. His shoulders when he rubs the cricks out of his neck.

"Pacifica," comes a voice from the doorway, and she startles, hands slamming against the piano keys in a cacophony. Her mother stands there, pant suit neatly pressed. "You've been playing the same song for twenty minutes. Please move on."

"Yes, Mother," she says, tips of her ears growing hot.

After another half an hour of half-hearted playing, she gives up a little early and slips into her bedroom. If her mother comments, she can claim excessive homework.

Sliding onto the bed, Pacifica opens her laptop and waits for it to wake up by playing with her phone. She hears the chime the signifies a new email ring out, and looks up. Her eyes widen. It's a new email from Dipper.

She moves the mouse quickly to open it. Skimming it, it's another article about space travel; they'd been having a debate about the merits for a few weeks now. The paragraph he'd written before the link seems upbeat and cheerful. There's no sign he's just suffered a break up. Mabel might be right about it not being all that devastating to him. Pacifica bites her lip, counting the exclamation marks he used and lingering on the "~" he used to sign his name. She reads the article and sends a retort, making sure to use the work "dork" at least twice lest he get the wrong idea.

* * *

Two weeks later, Pacifica waits at the bus stop, twisting her hair around her finger over and over again.

It's four in the afternoon, so only Candy is there as well to greet the twins off the bus. They did nothing more than nod politely at each other then settle in on opposite sides of the station. Despite her friendship with Mabel, the gap between her and Mabel's other Gravity Falls friends had never really been filled. They coexist, and sometimes occupy the same space, but Candy and Grenda were not exactly Pacifica's friends. Still, it had been years since Pacifica had said anything about either of them that wasn't friendly.

The smell of diesel hits her nose and Pacifica looks up from her phone. The bus is rumbling over the crest of the hill and her heart betrays her, fluttering against her ribcage. Across the way, Candy stands up, waving energetically at the approaching vehicle.

It rolls to a stop, a hiss of hot air as it settles, and no sooner than the door creaks open is a pink blur racing out to slam into Candy. High pitched squeals reverberate over the noise of the idling bus, and Pacifica can't help but smile as Mabel turns to her.

"Wow, that is bright, Mabel."

Mabel runs a hand through the vibrant pink stripe through her hair. "Isn't it awesome? I asked for bubblegum, but it went all the way to hot pink, and I love it!" She throws her arms around Pacifica in a bone crushing hug. "It's so good to see you!" she cries directly into her ear.

Pacifica hugs her back despite what she's sure is a cracked rib, then notices the person behind Mabel. Her stomach swoops, but she manages a deadpan, "Oh look, this nerd came too," and he looks up from greeting Candy.

"Hey, Pacifica," says Dipper with a grin. Mabel releases Pacifica and steps aside quickly.

Giving him a once over, hands on her hips, Pacifica says, "You haven't changed a bit." It's a lie; he's filled out even more in the shoulders and is at least two inches taller than last she'd seen him. His hair is just a tad longer and shaggier, but he opens his arms as he always has and she steps into them, suddenly hit with the scent of his laundry detergent and a whiff of teenage boy. After a moment, she pulls back, completely composed except for a dusting of pink across the apples of her cheeks, which no one should ever have been able to notice, but Mabel's catlike grin seems to suggest otherwise. She rolls her eyes and makes a fuss over straightening her skirt.

"How are the Stans?" asks Dipper, shouldering his bag.

"Well, the Shack is still there, last I checked," say Pacifica, looking at his elbow. "So they haven't blown each other up yet."

"Grenda will be off work around eight," Candy pipes up. "She wants to do a movie night! Does that work?"

"It absolutely does!" Mabel spins around, arms up in the air. "This summer is gonna be so awesome! We're gonna have a blast, and we're gonna stay up late, and we're gonna do whatever we want!"

"One last hurrah before college?" asks Candy.

Mabel's face falls for a fraction of a second, but a wide grin quickly replaces it. "Well, I'm sure it won't be the last, but yeah it's gonna be a great summer! C'mon!"

Everyone follows her to the parking lot and Pacifica finds that Dipper falls into step with her, carrying both backpacks.

"She would have forgotten this if I hadn't grabbed it for her," he murmurs, eyes rolling. "But i do think she's right."

"What do you mean?" Pacifica asks.

He turns to her, and his smile makes her heart slam against her chest again; she's amazed he can't hear it. "I do think this is gonna be a great summer."

* * *

 **This is my first foray into Gravity Falls. Warnings will be for later chapters. Please let me know what you think! Also feel free to poke me on tumblr; my handle is fabulousanima. Thanks for reading!**


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